Getting high

Aloha,

We have just spent a few days in Cotopaxi National Park, staying in an adobe mud house near Cotopaxi Volcano. So beautiful. We did a few walks to check out the local flora and fauna, but didn´t venture up the volcano because...well because we couldn´t be arsed. Just seemed like exercise on that scale didn´t appeal and that we were far better off with chilling out and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Strangely, aside from the view of the volcano, it reminded us of New Zealand, and even the volcano and surrounding farmland bore a resemblance to Taranaki. We were staying at 3 500 metres though, and we definitely noticed the effects on our lungs and heads...a bit spacey and a bit out of breath at times, but very good practice for Machu Picchu I guess! We´re now in Baños, a town famous for it´s mineral baths and hot springs. Which seems like an excellent place to relax for a little while. So far we´ve done a walk up a hill to see a statue of Mary overlooking the town and discovered a magical health food shop in the middle of town, where we found brown rice and fresh spices. I know, not exactly party central but it could be that, dare I say it, we might be past that!

Fiesta Loco!

We were pleasantly surprised with the magnificent welcome that the residents of Otovalo put on for us last night. A small welcome committee would have been enough, but we really didn´t expect a full parade, complete with dancers from Mexico, Peru and Bolivia, as well as some startling body-builders and Miss Otovalo contestants distributing roses. The streets were thick with Ecuadorians, many of which Meg was delighted to discover only came up to her waist. An uncommon experience for her. The prize for the most bizarre float went to the scantily-clad nurses (mini skirts and red stilettos), accompanied by a very large papier mache Egyptian cat. They were advertising something, it was either bikini waxes or viagra. By the looks of the number of babies in the crowd, it should have been contraceptive pills.

Everywhere we looked there were squat Ecuadorian women with tight baby bundles strapped to their backs. Looks like a fantastic way to get around. We´re thinking of finding a couple of Ecuadorian women to carry us around for the rest of the trip. They seem built for carrying heavy loads, we saw a little old man yesterday who came up to our knees, but had a large bundle on his back about four times as big as he was. Made us stop complaining about our packs for five minutes.

We´re so glad to be out of the city. We´re staying in a fantastic hostel (http://www.rosecottageecuador.com/) with a family who speaks no English so it´s a Baptism of Fire with our spanish. Much fun. Sporting a little bit of sunburn after a fantastic jaunt in the countryside yesterday. Life is beautifully slow here. Everyday we see a little man sitting by the side of the road while his herd of 6 cattle grazes - he looks happy as Larrio. Our next-door neighbour is a farmer who we see ploughing his field with his oxen in the morning. We´re pretty sure he´s not just doing this for our photo opportunities. Chilling here for a couple more days before heading south, we hope on another bus with as much character as that we arrived on.

Chau for now!

Estamos Aqui!

Contrary to what some of our more doubtful friends might have thought, we managed to meet in Quito on the right day, in the right place and with very little stress. And yes, even we were surprised. So we´re just hanging out in Quito for a day or two more, before heading out into the wilderness to chill out. Neither of us are city girls at heart, especially given the manic-ness of crazy Quito, and we´ve found a couple of lovely places to rest for a while.

We´re heading up to Otovalo tomorrow, two hours north of Quito, where there is a huge market on a Saturday and a fiesta happening this weekend. We´ll be staying outside of Otovalo with views of the volcanoes. Should be great! So tomorrows job is tackling the south american bus system for the first time... might need a couple of coffees beforehand.

Hope everyone is well and happy...chau for now! Meg and Sue